After this week’s in-depth interviews with RATATAT and Emile, our behind-the-scenes series on Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon: The End Of Day continues with today’s Q&A subject: Matt Friedman, one-half of ILLFONICS, and the man who produced the ’shrooming anthem “Enter Galactic.”

As ILLFONICS, Friedman and partner Jed Cappelli have churned out beats for notables like Jim Jones (”Na Na Nana Na Na”) and the Re-Up Gang (”My Life’s the Shit”). On Cudi’s debut, Friedman is responsible for the album’s outlier—”Enter Galactic” is clearly the LP’s most uptempo, dance-friendly track. Read on as he talks about how he came to work with Cudi, why “Enter Galactic” almost didn’t make the album, and future projects…

Interview By Ralph Warner

“Enter Galactic (Love Connection Part 1)”

Complex: How familiar were you with Cudi and his music before working with him?

Matt: We knew about Cudi since “Day ‘N’ Nite,” whenever it first came out back in 2007. Before Fool’s Gold [Records] even put it out, it was just on Fader.com or whatever when it was first coming out. We were trying to get with him all the way back then and it just didn’t really happen at the time. But then when the mixtape came out, I told my manager Toshi [Kondo], “We need to work with this dude,” because creatively there’s not a lot of people doing anything like what he’s doing. Artistically for us, we’ve had a lot of hip-hop placements but musically we’re all over the map, so we always thought it would be a good match to work with Cudi. Then, like almost two years later, around last fall maybe, we kind of touched base with some people that were working with him and started making joints and sending them through and that’s how that [YouTube] freestyle came about.

Complex: Right, the “Too Short” freestyle clip.

Matt: Yeah. Jon Kaslow, who’s his DJ now, we were all always cool with him, so he would pass Pat and Emile some of our stuff. I made that freestyle track for him, I guess initially he really liked it and mentioned that he probably would end up using it for the album, but that didn’t end up happening. But yeah, we just kept making stuff and got cool with his A&R Nigil [Mack] once he signed a deal over at Universal, because before he signed we were working with another artist over there named Jackie Chain. So once Cudi signed there, we were already cool with Nigil and I think he was the one that passed on the beat that became “Enter Galactic.”

Complex: When was “Enter Galactic” recorded? How long did the process take?

Matt: It must have been recorded in like late June, early July. We sent the track to Nigil and he was like, “Yo, this beat is crazy! Send it to Cudi.” I think Cudi cut his vocals that day, he heard it and it just clicked for him. I wasn’t actually there, he just had the track and laid it down. Then we kind of went through this tumultuous period where they wanted it, and then they didn’t want it. They weren’t sure if it was going to fit into the rest of the record. So it kind of went back and forth and then in mid-July, the week before I was about to go on vacation, they decided that they wanted to use it.

Complex: What changes did they want you to make to the beat?

Matt: They had me come into the studio because the original layout I had was kind of crazy, some parts were kind of long, and the way he laid it down, the middle section just kind of went on a little too long. So we adjusted the layout a little bit and they had me do a few variations of stuff on my own. But the changes I made kind of took it further away from the rest of the album because I hadn’t really heard the rest of the album, so sonically what I was doing was moving away. In the end they just went with the original stuff, the original beat but just the new layout we worked on together.

Complex: How do you feel about the fact that “Enter Galactic” does sound so different from the other songs on Cudi’s album?

Matt: It’s funny because originally I did make that beat with another artist in mind, a female singer. Then I thought a male singer could really do something on this, but I wasn’t thinking about Cudi when I first made it. Then my manager Toshi was like, “I could definitely hear Cudi on this, I’m going to send it to his A&R.” And I was like, “Are you sure?! Really?” [Laughs.] Then I thought about it and I was like, yeah I could hear that too. He was totally right, so it was a good call.

Complex: We heard from Emile that Cudi is pretty active in the studio and isn’t afraid to give suggestions to producers. Was that the case for you?

Matt: When I went into the studio, he would do that and there were a lot of suggestions, like, let’s try adding this thing here, or maybe take out this kind of thing. With Cudi, Emile, and Pat, they were all there and I tried those things out, but in the end they just went with more of the original [beat].

Complex: Was your experience working with Cudi different than with other artists?

Matt: I think that the first thing that stands out to me is just that melodically, it’s almost really like working with a singer. On “Enter Galactic,” he mostly just kind of sings, then does some spoken word, then raps, and then goes back to singing. It was cool working with an artist that versatile because a lot of the times when you’re working with rappers or singers, it kind of puts you in the box of what they do. Most artists just do one thing and hopefully they do it really well, but I think creatively he can do a lot of things and it’s inspiring to work with someone like that. Even when we were throwing ideas around in the studio and singing extra lines, the way he hears the music is definitely really cool.

Complex: There’s some rumors of “Enter Galactic” becoming a single.

Matt: [Laughs.] Uh, I’ve heard some bubbling, I don’t know. I don’t really know what their plans are. I mean I’ve heard online rumors of a bunch of different songs being singles. Hey, I would be excited if it was but I don’t know at this point.

Complex: Describe how your partnership with Jed works on a record like “Enter Galactic.”

Matt: Definitely spontaneous. With “Enter Galactic,” I produced that on my own. Some tracks we’ll start together from top to bottom, some tracks one of us will get it going and then bring the idea to the other person and we’ll finish it together. Then some stuff we do completely on our own. We both overlap with what we do. We both play guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, programming, and all that stuff. It really just depends on the record and wherever the idea comes from.

Complex: How has your relationship with Jed progressed over time?

Matt: There’s really no one way that we work together. Early on we would always be in the studio together. We’ve been working together for 10 years. Originally during production we would teach each other things and build off of each other, but I think as time went on we just got more confident with our own skills. We would start things and bring them along further before bringing it to the other person. I mean we still do stuff together but there’s a lot more of building something a lot further then finishing it together. Then we both started doing joints from top to bottom, on our own, at our own studios. We both have studios with similar setups. That was just the case with the Cudi record. The [Jim] Jones record we did together, our placements with LL we did together. It just really depends.

Complex: What are some of the projects you’re currently working on?

Matt: I just did a track with Gorilla Zoe, we’re probably going to do a few more tracks with him. We did a track together with Shanell and Gudda Gudda from Young Money that’s hopefully going to be on the Young Money album, it’s a real kind of pop track. There’s a track with Red Cafe, some stuff with Pill and Donnis. We also are producing a remix of Mick Boogie’s upcoming Noisettes’ Wild Young Heartbreak project. There’s some TV stuff too, we have a beat that’s going to be on the season finale of Entourage. Just keeping busy.

Complex: Your sound is pretty diverse. Is there a particular genre that you prefer?

Matt: That’s tough, it’s hard because when you get a track that’s coming together really great—in that moment that’s your favorite track. They can all be exciting and fun. I love doing the pop/rock stuff, but I love doing it all. I think that’s what keeps it fun for us is that we’re not just doing the same thing over and over. If we were just doing a hip-hop beat over and over it would get pretty boring for us. But because we’re bouncing all over the place, it keeps stuff interesting.

RELATED:
• Emile on the making of Kid Cudi’s Album
• Ratatat Talks Collaboration On Kid Cudi Album
• Complex’s Kid Cudi Cover Story: The Uncut Interview Outtakes
• Complex’s August/September Kid Cudi Cover Story

Yesterday we presented our interview with Ratatat, who produced “Pursuit of Happiness” and “Alive” on Kid Cudi’s Man On The Moon: The End Of Day album. Today, we turn our focus to Emile, who is not only Cudi’s co-manager but the person who racked up the most production credits on the LP.

The man sometimes referred to as “The Urban Gentleman” has previously worked with Raekwon (”Ice Water”) and Obie Trice (”Wanna Know”), but it’s with Cudi’s project that Emile is truly making a name for himself. After producing the majority of the A Kid Named Cudi mixtape with Plain Pat, Emile shifted his focus to work on Cudi’s studio album. (The trio have since started their own indie label, Dream On.) On Man On The Moon, Emile’s touch is apparent from start to finish—he produced “In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem),” “Soundtrack 2 My Life,” Solo Dolo (Nightmare),” and “CuDi Zone.” In this exclusive interview, Emile breaks down how each track came to fruition, and also talks about the first night he met Cudi…

Interview By Joe La Puma

“In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem)”

Complex: So starting from the first track—”In My Dreams (Cudder Anthem).” How did that song come about?

Emile: It’s like the way we did all of our records where we started with nothing, and we were just kind of listening to different sounds and different music. I hooked that beat up pretty fast and I’m pretty sure that Cudi freestyled that whole thing. For a lot of songs we did he would write out the verses on his Blackberry or whatever phone he was using at the time. With that one, he just went in the booth and freestyled it and nailed it. We were always planning on redoing it or having him “officially” do it. But yeah, it was just like that first take was the one that stayed on the album. That was off the top, kinda ill.

Complex: Did you guys plan on starting the album with a gloomy beat like that from jump?

Emile: Actually, that was more of Cudi’s thing. He had in his head what he wanted to start the album with. Like way back it was a song called “Bigger Than You,” which some people might of heard because it leaked. It was a really dope record. “Bigger Than You” was actually the first record me and Cudi ever did together. It was on the first day that we met, we cut that song. Once we cut it, he was like, “That’s the intro to my album.” It stayed that way for a while, but that record was cut a long time before the album was ever done, so eventually it kinda faded out. Then we did this “In My Dreams” record and he was always kinda stuck on that being the intro. He really liked this part that I played which is the little melody part where he actually sings, “You’re in my dreams.” He always liked that and was like, that’s dope for the intro. So that’s how that kind of happened.

Complex: You said you recorded “Bigger Than You” the first day you met Cudi. When exactly was that?

Emile: 2007. Some point in ’07. Maybe summer of ’07 or fall of ’07, it was a while back.

“Soundtrack 2 My Life”

Complex: The second track on the album is a lot of people’s favorite: “Soundtrack 2 My Life.” I remember Cudi spitting it as a freestyle on 106 & Park, but the lyrics were a bit different. Talk to us about that track.

Emile: It was probably around the time that 106 happened, I’m not 100% sure, but I would guess it was probably around the 106 time. I think probably one of the reasons why the lyrics got fucked up is because it’s kind of like a head-nod type of record and I remember the crowd started clapping all fast to speed it up and shit. That record started with me just kind of on the keyboard just playing shit. When he heard something he liked, he would be like, “That’s dope.” It would just be like some chords, then we’d kind of build it around that. It wasn’t like, I’d have a beat done and be like, “What do you think?”

Complex: Right.

Emile: It would always just start with nothing and then build into a beat. That was one of those records we cut all in one night—which is rare, because usually we would spend a few days or a few different sessions per song, but that one we just did in one night because he was just determined to get it done.

Complex: To me, it’s one of the records that really gives a glimpse into his life. Is that what he aimed to do?

Emile: I believe so, I mean I don’t really ever ask him why he writes shit or what he wrote. I just kind of take it for what it is. I want to say he had the chorus first, he probably put the verses around what he was saying in the chorus and what he had in his head for the chorus.

Complex: And it all came out in one night?

Emile: Yeah, in one session. Pretty much the whole thing too, which is ill because usually I go back and play around with the beat a lot. But that was literally pretty much hammered out. The only thing that was different on that was I had my boy Morgan play guitars on the outro. Like right at the end when his voice starts echoing, I had these guitars I added to the outro. But other than that I was pretty much done in one session.

“Solo Dolo (Nightmare”)

Complex: So “Solo Dolo” is a track that leaked before, but without any strings. How did that song come about?

Emile: That’s my favorite song. I remember that session was just me and Cudi in the studio and I have a big record collection, we were just listening to the record that I got the sample from. I just had it playing in the background, I wasn’t really listening to it for samples necessarily, we were just kind of listening to some things and we both heard that and were like, “Oh shit, that’s dope—what if we took that sample and just slowed it way down?” So we just took it and slowed it way down, then I just kind of built the beat up around it and put some synths in it. There’s like this one weird little dreamy synth thing on the chorus, that was Cudi’s idea that he kind of had in his head. I just found the right sound eventually and added that in. Then I beefed it up with these 808s, I added some synths, and I added a couple things but I was really like, man this would be sick with a really big orchestra on it so let’s not add too much of anything and just get the ill arrangement and the ill strings on it. That’s probably my favorite song, I think what Cudi did to that is so fucking ill.

Complex: Yeah, he killed it.

Emile: When we did that, I was like, “Holy shit, he’s going in.” I think just the way his voice sounds, there’s like this low tone that he hits. I’ve had engineers ask me if that’s an effect I put on his vocals but it’s not, he’s got this low tone, it’s almost like adding bass to something but it’s in his voice. That’s in the chorus, that chorus to me just sounds so big. It’s sonically a big hook because he’s got that super sub-harmonic low voice in there. There’s no effect on there, there’s no auto, there’s no tuning, there’s no nothing. I tend to add a gang of shit to my music and my tracks, I just kind of love that overproduced vibe sometimes. But that one, his voice was so strong on that, it was just like, let’s just leave this wide open and then have the orchestra just come in and do some things on it. Larry Gold just went in on that, it sounded big and cinematic but sinister at the same time. It was perfect.

“CuDi Zone”

Complex: For “Cudi Zone,” I remember Cudi saying he had the first verse done, and then eventually finished the second verse at a later time.

Emile: He had the verse forever and me and [Plain] Pat were like “’Cudi Zone,’ what’s up with it?” and Cudi would just blow it off. So me and Pat were just like, fuck man, this record is so dope but it went on so long that I started to wonder if this monster of a record was going to be on the shelf, just like if it was ever going to get finished. A long time went by, and he just wasn’t going to force it. Cudi doesn’t force his stuff when he works, it’s either going to happen or it’s not going to happen. Eventually one day, it was real nonchalant, months and months after we had this record and he was just like, “Oh yeah, I got the ‘Cudi Zone’ verse.” I almost didn’t believe him, I was like, word? Not only did he come in forever after we did the first verse but he did the second verse and it sounded like he did it the exact same day he did the first verse. The tone was cool, everything was cool about it. It was like OK, shit we’re done. Sweet.

Complex: Now how much of a time span went on between the first verse and the second?

Emile: Man…we did “Cudi Zone” and “Solo Dolo” I think back-to-back in like two days. It had to have been six months, I don’t know exactly. It was a while, I’m going to guess between four and six months.

Complex: Going back to the origin of your relationship with Cudi’s relationship, how did you hook up with him? Did Pat bring you in later or did you and Pat find Cudi together?

Emile: You know what, I heard “Day ‘N’ Nite” on Cudi’s MySpace and was blown away by the record. It didn’t even have that many plays on MySpace yet. I don’t know how I stumbled across it, but I stumbled across it and heard it. The second I heard it I was like, “Holy shit!” I looked around on his page and saw [Plain] Pat on his top friends list. Me and Pat have had a long relationship, we’ve always kind of worked together with him being an A&R and me as a producer. So, I hit Pat up and was just like, yo there’s this cat with this song that has you as one of his top friends and this song is just like the illest song ever. Obviously he had started to work with Cudi, and was like, “Yeah, yeah that’s my guy we should get up.” I said bring him by the studio, because I think some of the new beats I got are pretty well-suited for him, we should do some shit.

Complex: Did he bring him by right away?

Emile: We didn’t get up until a few months after that. I think Pat was doing the Graduation album with Kanye at the time and I was doing this album out in England. Then I think Pat might have hit me up and brought Cudi to the studio. On that first day we cut “Bigger Than You.” I remember I was playing them mad beats, and he liked the beats but it was the sort of thing where you’re playing an artist mad beats and they’re like, yeah that’s good, that’s good, but you know when somebody really wants something, things get done. The artist hears something and they’re like, I’m getting in the booth or I’m writing right now. When you’re in the studio that either happens or it doesn’t. That wasn’t happening and I was just like, fuck it, lets just make something from scratch. And that kinda just sent the tone for how we did everything. The way we did “Bigger Than You,” that very first record, it was a sample and we were just listening to records and he was just like, “Yo that’s crazy” and we built it up. That’s kinda how we did everything from then on.

Complex: You’re one of his managers. How did that music relationship turn into a managerial relationship?

Emile: Yeah, well it’s co-managing with Pat. Pat was always the original manager and when Cudi started coming to the studio we started working a lot, it was just an organic thing that happened. His buzz started getting bigger, we put the mixtape A Kid Named Cudi out and the next thing you know I had a million people hitting me like different labels and people I had different relationships with trying to get meetings and set up meetings and that kind of stuff. It happened naturally over time, the music kind of blended with the business. We just kept it moving.

Complex: Now the “Browski Room,” the place where the tracks you did for the album were recorded, is that your personal studio?

Emile: [Laughs.] Yeah. I mean I never had a name for my studio and we got a lot of inside jokes and that’s one of them.

Complex: You’ve worked with a lot of other artists, but is there something about Cudi that stands out to you?

Emile: The creativity, the harmonies, the melodies and just the fact that he manages to be completely original and be like an underground artist, but has melodies that appeal to everybody. I think that’s the trick. A lot of people are very underground and stay that way because they don’t appeal to the masses. Or, they appeal to the masses and real music heads can’t appreciate it. A lot of the time it’s one extreme or the other and Cudi kind of manages to fit in both categories and that’s the ticket.

Complex: Did you or Pat or Cudi ever feel like this album was too bold for a debut album? It’s not the most Hot 97-friendly record…

Emile: Yeah I mean, that wasn’t even needed to be thought about. We’re not the type to even really give a fuck about all that. It is what it is. Like when you hear “Day ‘N’ Nite,” you know it’s incredible but it’s not like a generic radio record. It just so happened that the people heard it, and loved it, and it managed to find a place in our world. I never even thought about it, I think we knew what we were doing was good and wherever it fit in, it fit in.

Complex: So now with the album done, what are you working on now personally? Are you working with any other artists?

Emile: Not really. I started to get back in the studio and cook up quite a bit and I’ve got in with a few artists to record a few things which is all good, but we’re really pushing this Cudi album hard so I’m spending a lot of time doing that. I’ve been getting back in the studio myself, personally just kind of alone, making tracks and things like that.

Complex: You’ve had big records with Obie and others before, but do you view this as a breakthrough for you?

Emile: Yeah, definitely because I feel like this is a new sound for me, it’s really producing. It’s not making a beat, sending it to an artist and having them record a song to it—which I do a lot of, that’s fine and that’s cool. That’s how a lot of stuff gets done in rap. But it’s not nearly as fun as truly starting from scratch with an artist and developing a sound. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do and this was an opportunity I had to actually do that.

RELATED:
• Ratatat Talks Collaboration On Kid Cudi Album
• Complex’s Kid Cudi Cover Story: The Uncut Interview Outtakes
• Complex’s August/September Kid Cudi Cover Story

Last week, Complex cover star Kid Cudi moved an impressive 104K units of his debut album Man on The Moon: The End of Day—but more than just sales, Cudi’s record has been generating a lot of discussion with its unique sound. While most people are familiar with Scott Mescudi (click here for our in-depth cover interview if not), those who’ve listened to the album have been asking about Ratatat, who produced two records for the album, including the standout third single “Pursuit Of Happiness (Nightmare)”.

The Brooklyn-based instrumental duo has gained a big following in the electro/indie rock world over the last five years with their eclectic albums on XL Recordings (in fact, their 2006 album Classics ended up on Complex’s 100 Best Albums of the 2000s list), but this marks their first exposure as producers within the hip-hop scene. In this interview, we talked to one-half of the group, Evan Mast, about how the Cudi collabos came about and what it was like to work on the album. Read on to learn more about Ratatat, yeahhh….

Interview by Joe La Puma

Complex: When did you first link up with Cudi?

Evan Mast: Recently—just a couple months ago. He had been in touch with our A&R guy, but we never had any direct contact with him. We hadn’t heard much of his music or anything, even after “Day ‘N’ Nite” was blowing up. The A&R said he was interested in us doing some production. Then basically Cudi called up one day, and said he’s been following us for a while, and he was into our stuff and interested in a collaboration. Then we started researching his stuff and listening to his mixtapes, and we really liked his stuff.

Complex: How did “Pursuit Of Happiness” come about?

Evan Mast: We had plans to meet up, but we’d been on tour for a really long time and hadn’t had time to work on new material, and I went to my apartment to listen to beats, I sort of realized I didn’t have much to play him. I spoke to him on the phone and gave him directions, and like in the 15 minutes of him getting in the car and showing up to my place, I put together the piano part and the melody, and then an early version of the drums of the “Pursuit” beat. It was like super last-minute.

Complex: So 15 minutes is all it took to put the groundwork of the song together?

Evan Mast: Pretty much, the chords and stuff. I ended up going back into the production and tweaking things—but yeah, the melody, the chorus, and the basic beat pattern was in 15 minutes.

Complex: Was there a time when you, Cudi, and MGMT were in the same room?

Evan Mast: No, we never actually all got together. We had done like a finished version of the track before he got together with MGMT. I think he got with those guys and played them a bunch of tracks off the record, and they were leaning towards that one. He had them do the chorus.

Complex: Have you guys worked with MGMT at all?
Evan Mast: No, we haven’t met those guys. We’re all supposed to shoot the video for “Pursuit Of Happiness” the day after tomorrow, or something.

Complex: Now for “Alive,” did that song come after “Pursuit”?

Evan Mast: Yeah, that was super last-minute too. We were about to go on tour again, and the day before we left town, it was the last week Cudi was in the studio working on his record, so we went in and kind of did it on the spot. The drums for that beat were actually from a couple years ago, and they were still on my laptop. I always wanted to do something with them. We put the beat together real quick, and came up with some vocal ideas. When we left it was kind of half-done, and then we went back and forth between emails before coming up with the final song.

Complex: The album is getting solid reviews, and “Pursuit” is definitely one of the standout tracks. Have you noticed yourselves becoming more popular since the release of Cudi’s album?

Evan Mast: We’ve had a bunch of friends say they like the track. We haven’t got a whole lot amount of direct feedback from it. We did the Letterman show a couple of weeks ago. It was fun, we’re like an instrumental band so we usually don’t play those late night shows and stuff. I was pretty nervous going into it, but it turned out to be really fun.

Complex: How do you feel about Cudi’s album on the whole?

Evan Mast: I think it’s a very interesting record. It’s pretty different from his mixtapes. It’s a very brave record for a debut album—it’s a lot bolder and that’s definitely commendable.

Complex: What’s next for you guys?

Evan Mast: We have another record that we don’t have a date for yet. It’s mostly done, we’re working on different video ideas for it and working with different directors for it. Might take some time off, because we’ve been touring for ages, and we just got done in August. So now we’ll start working on another project soon.

Complex: Do you have plans to work with Cudi again?

Evan Mast: Yeah, definitely we’ve been talking about doing other collaborations, I’m not sure if it’s for another project entirely. He’s super-easy to work with. We gelled really well together. His whole process with melodies is similar to the way we work in a way. Once we get the basic style of the track, we get the chorus. He would just start coming up with melodies and then try another idea, another idea, and then choose the best one. He’s real easygoing, it’s a good way of working.

WATCH RATATAT & KID CUDI PERFORMING “PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS” ON THE LETTERMAN SHOW:

As he preps for the Hova tour and readies his debut album (Attention Deficit, due November 3), Wale’s busier than ever…but not too busy to chat with Complex about his MTV gig, his live band, and touring with Jay. Read on for the interview and to listen to “World Tour”…

NEW SINGLE: Wale “World Tour” feat. Jazmine Sullivan

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

Interview by Ralph Warner

Complex: So how was the VMA experience for you?

Wale: It was cool, with the exception of some things that weren’t in the script. But it was a good experience, it was a lot of pressure but I think we did a pretty good job.

Complex: How did you end up getting the MTV gig?

Wale: They just had a couple people that they were looking at, a couple different bands and stuff, but they liked what I do. They had been to the live shows and they were really excited about [them]. So they wanted to kind of put that into the VMAs.

Complex: How much time did you get to rehearse?

Wale: I’ve been playing with that band for years but we had like three days to rehearse.

Complex: You had guys like Cudi and Daniel Merriweather come share the stage with you. How did you decide on your special guests?

Wale: Me and MTV kind of decided together. It was one of those things where we put our heads together, came up with a list of people, and just picked.

Complex: What’s your opinion on the whole Kanye thing?

Wale: I don’t even have one on that. I really can’t speak on that.

Complex: Any good post-VMA party stories?

Wale: Nah, I just chilled with a friend of mine. We just went to a lot of different places—like real low-key places where nobody was, that type of thing. Me and A-Trak and a few friends went out and chilled.

Complex: How’s everything coming along with the album? Is Attention Deficit complete?

Wale: The album is done man, dropping November 3. I’m excited about it, we got this tour with Jay-Z and Lupe that we’re about to do. I think the energy is good in hip-hop right now. So I’m excited about that.

Complex: What’s one thing that you think your fans can look forward to on the album?

Wale: I think a lot of raw emotion, the kind of emotion that’s been missing from hip-hop for a while.

Complex: Going back to the idea with the whole house band and everything, the Roots are Jimmy Fallon’s house band. Could you ever see yourself doing that type of thing as a regular gig?

Wale: Yeah, somewhere down the line. I think those guys are a lot more sharp than we are, in some elements. But I definitely could see myself doing something like that. I don’t know if I would do it as much as they do it, but at some point, yeah.

Complex: Can you talk about your working relationship with your band UCB?

Wale: Well we’ve been playing with each other for about five-and-a-half years. Before I even signed a record deal we would just do little hole-in-the-wall stuff. But they’ve been playing for 13 years in D.C. so we jam real cool, we’re all just good friends, you know. So it wasn’t difficult at all, that was something that we could do in our sleep. We’ve done so many shows together now in the past year. That’s not even counting the ones that we started doing five-and-a-half years ago. It just got real intense this past year though.

Complex: What do you think your performances at the VMAs does for your career?

Wale: I really don’t know, I’m really too close to my brand to know what the general perception is. I hope it’s doing something for me but I really couldn’t tell you.

Complex: What are you up to between now and the time the album drops?

Wale: The tour with Jay, we’re doing a lot of major colleges. Just get ready for the album on November 3. It’s just the tour, that’s a lot right there. There’s so many dates.

Complex: What are your thoughts on getting an opportunity to go out there with Jay?

Wale: It’s great, I’m excited about it. I’m just really excited to make new fans on the tour because I’ve only done headlining tours. We haven’t had the opportunity to open for people that much. I also got a single right now, “World Tour,” that’s just been released like two days ago. That’s pretty much it, that and the tour.

• CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE COMPLEX RAP POSTS!

Without so much as breathing on the mic, the man known as “Ty Ty” (a.k.a. Tyran Smith) has become a household name in hip-hop. How? By being the best buddy of Jay-Z, of course. But the role Ty Ty plays as Hov’s real right-hand man (sorry, Bleek) isn’t without its downsides. You know, he might have to mace a child abuser and take a charge. Or he might end up (allegedly) taking a beatdown on behalf of the big homie (but live to Twitter about it!). See, this shit ain’t all courtside seats and weekends in St. Barts.

But aside from the obvious perks, undying loyalty to hip-hop’s biggest icon has another advantage—no, not an imdb page, but immortality in rap lyrics. Yep, Jay has been shouting out Ty Ty since Reasonable Doubt all the way up to The Blueprint 3, which leaked yesterday (you might have heard?). So we combed through Hov’s discography to uncover the top 8 lyrical references to Ty Ty. Best Friends Forever!….

“Can’t stop I, from drinkin Mai Tais, with Ty Ty/Down in Nevada, ha ha, poppa, word life”
“Dead Presidents II” from Reasonable Doubt (1996)

COMPLEX SAYS: Ty been down with Jigga since he was saying “word life.” Word life.
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“Just me Ty and B-High, thug it like that/E, Dame, and Biggs, what’s fuckin’ with that?”
“It’s Like That” from Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life (1998)

COMPLEX SAYS: Somebody ask Dame that question.
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“We’re young execs/My nigga Dame, my nigga Biggs, my nigga Ty/My nigga High, my nigga Gotti/We embody all that’s right with the world”
“Anything” from Vol. 3…Life and Times of S.Carter (1999)

COMPLEX SAYS: Ah, Dame. You really lost one.
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Mean muggin’, son.
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“Ty rolled with a nigga, V.A. spot/Tone, Mike Zo, and them niggas, V.A.’s locked”
“Blueprint (Momma Loves Me)” from The Blueprint (2001)

COMPLEX SAYS: “My dude’ll commit felonies on my behalf across state lines.”
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“And they was havin a lil’ trouble with the pool…You and Ty Ty was laughin’…Emory was there, what up Emory? What up Ty?”

“My 1st Song” from The Black Album (2003)

COMPLEX SAYS: Uh…guess we had to be there.
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“Big Ty, I see you, too, boy…Guru, I don’t usually do this, but roll me up something, man”
“Do U Wanna Ride” from Kingdom Come (2006)

COMPLEX SAYS: “…and Bleek, bring me over some Baked Lays… Tru-Life, uh, go run and grab my slippers…”
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“Look at Chris Breezy bitch-ass up in V.I.P., scared to come down here…”
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“My reply: BLAH, BLAH/Blast burner then pass burner to Ty Ty”

“Success” from American Gangster (2007)

COMPLEX SAYS: And by “burner,” I mean a can of mace. Thoia Thoing!
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“And I brought my boys with me, say what up to Ty Ty/Still sippin’ Mai Tais, sitting courtside/Knicks and Nets give me high fives…”
“Empire State of Mind” from The Blueprint 3

COMPLEX SAYS: But do they leave Ty Ty hangin’?
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• CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE COMPLEX RAP POSTS!

Atlanta is many things to many people. Musically, the A has given us everything from iggety-underaged rappers with their clothes worn backwards to hard-ass trap music, mindless stripper jams, and all kinds of experimental shit in between. On Killer Mike’s latest project, the double-disc album Underground Atlanta, that releases today, the Grand Hustle rapper brings artists from all sub-genres together to showcase the full range of talent in his hometown. Complex caught up with the big homie to get his thoughts on 10 new and emerging Atlanta artists that you should be up on. Most of them are on his album, so cop that and see what the hell he’s talking about!

GRIP PLYAZ
Killer Mike says: He is a skinny jean wearin’, Vans shoe rockin’, Basic cigarette smokin’, different type of dude. He’s not a hipster, he’ll tell you he’s not a hipster, he’s just hip to shit and he lives in his own world. His style is kinda awkward and nerdy and still dirty and street at the same time, like a hipster with the same street savoir-faire and dare I say swag of a Sean P from the YoungBloodZ.
Key tracks: “Fuck Dat Hipster Shit”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/cumgitslum

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YUNG RALPH
Killer Mike says: He calls himself the Jugg Man, which has trap rapper implications, but he really has an everyman worker’s voice that’s inspiring. “I Work Hard” best exemplifies that. Everybody talks about robbin’, stealin’, killin’, ballin’, rappin’, trappin’, and snappin’, but nobody’s talkin’ about working hard and enjoying the very simple parts of your life that everybody can relate to. I can listen to Ralph with the young men I mentor because his message, albeit street, is less about “I serve this much work” than “I work,” even if it is servin’ work.
Key tracks: “I Work Hard”; “Oh Yeah”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/yungralph

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RICH KIDS
Killer Mike says: They’re what Atlanta classically was, ABC and Kriss Kross, but these kids are a lot more neighborhood and a lot less suburban. Their music is jookin’. They’re doin’ music that feels sonically like it’s for the skating rink and middle school girls—my own daughter is crazy about ‘em—but the subject matter is edgier and it’s hood. It’s got that accessible pop element without sellin’ out. They just make hood pop for everybody. And they put on a good show. Everything about them is just right.
Key tracks: “Wasup”; “Partna Dem”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/richkidspartnadem

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PRYNCE CY HI
Killer Mike says: It’s dope ’cause most people try to tell you how G they are, but he really speaks on his trappin’ experience very matter of factly. You can tell there’s a level of thought to his stuff, and lyrically, he’s solid. He does some harmonies in his hook, and dare I say his hooks are as passionate as DMX, but just not with the aggression. His stuff has the realism of blues music.
Key tracks: “Can’t Go Outside”; “Sweet Georgia”
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dapryncehoodlum

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TRAVIS PORTER
Killer Mike says: They make comparable music, in terms of the way it feels, to the Rich Kids, but they’re wilder. By behavior, by dress, and by overall zaniness, they feel like something out of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off mixed with early Blink-182 mixed with the Beastie Boys, like they just wanna party, have fun, hang with as many girls as they possibly can. I would advise people to go check them out on Youtube and just watch ’em. The music that they make, it’s irreverent, it’s funny, it’s thoughtless, and it’s jammin’. It’s like having three Fresh Princes in a group except they got the Carlton Polo swag down.
Key tracks: “Freaky Girls”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/whoistravisporter

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BOBBY CREEKWATER
Killer Mike says: Not only is he an incredible MC, he’s a dope-ass beat-maker. To me, he could be an Andre 3000 had Dre rode all the way through with Southernplayalistic, staying ingrained in the street culture of hip-hop, and where that would’ve taken him. Creekwater brings that amount of skill and thoughtfulness to street subjects. He don’t just talk about the trap, he talks about the social and mental dilemmas, over his beats that are jammin’. He has an amazing voice also.
Key tracks: Anthem to the Streets (Mike wants you download the whole damn mixtape!)
Myspace: www.myspace.com/bobbycreekwater

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PILL
Killer Mike says: Pill is like a machine gun on tracks. He’s just amazing with his lyrical dexterity, being able to tackle subject matter. He’s a true student of rap and a real star in a neat little package with dreadlocks and a Newport hangin’ out his mouth. I knew he was amazing when I first heard him at 17 years old and he’s been riding with Grind Time ever since.
Key tracks: “Trap Goin’ Ham”; “Back Outside”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/gangstapill

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SL JONES
Killer Mike says: He’s from Little Rock, Arkansas but he’s been in Atlanta for years. If you could imagine someone who has the subject matter of a west coast gang lifestyle, the harmony and the ability to use melody like a Drake or a Dre 3000, and the lyrical ability of a Fabolous, if you marry all that together, you still would only have 50% of how good Jones is. Get the C.O.L.O.R.S. mixtape and see for yourself.
Key tracks: “Sags and Flags”; “Mind Blowin”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/sljonesy

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YELAWOLF
Killer Mike says: He’s a white kid from Alabama that’s up here on the Atlanta scene. He’s a hybrid of the Dungeon Family and Lynyrd Skynyrd—and there is nothing more southern than those two experiences. This kid is truly what a country musician is—not country music, but an artist from the country. They have to the ability to come to places, affect themselves, take those experiences, reinterpret them, and put them back out into the world as beautiful art. There are a lot of great live performers here and he’s one of the best I’ve seen. He doesn’t miss a beat, controlling the chaos of his shows. He’s dope as shit.
Key tracks: “Kickin’”; “Come On Over”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/yelawolf

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BIG KUNTRY KING
Killer Mike says: He’s from P$C, that big nigga with the good hair he don’t deserve. Big Kuntry got heat, I can’t even bullshit you. Being over at Grand Hustle, I probably done learned more about how to make a club jam watching him than from hangin’ around clubs for a year straight. He has his finger directly on the pulse of the clubs in Atlanta. When you hear “I Do,” you got a fifth of tequila and the prettiest girl in the club, and you rockin’.
Key tracks: “I Do”; “I’mma Fool Wit It”
Myspace: www.myspace.com/bigkuntryking

LISTEN: Jay-Z f/ Drake “Off That” (Produced by Timbaland)

TREND: Audemars Piguet watches
LINE: “I’m so tomorrow. Audemars are yesterday, which means you’re on time delay.”
COMPLEX SAYS: Jigga co-signed Audemars in “Upgrade U”—now why would he stop jocking the one European brand he can pronounce correctly?
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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TREND: Baggy clothes
LINE: “Oversized clothes…we off that.”
COMPLEX SAYS: News flash: Your bay-bro killed that like three years ago.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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TREND: Big chains
LINE: “Oversized chains…we off that.”
COMPLEX SAYS: Don’t worry, T-Pain: The “Fuck Top Hats & Sun-Tipped Dreads” song didn’t make the album.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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TREND: Cristal
LINE: “Cris…we off that.”
COMPLEX SAYS: The only difference between the original boycott in ‘06 and now is that he’s no longer shilling for a third-tier competitor. Hov!
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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TREND:Timberland boots
LINE: “Timbs, we off that.”
COMPLEX SAYS: So wait…he’s off Timbs but on these???
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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TREND: Rims
LINE: “Rims…we off that.”
COMPLEX SAYS: In related news, Aztek and Tru-Life have just opened up a store called “Vintage Roc Rims.”
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

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TREND: Making it rain
LINE: “Niggas still making it rain…we off that”
COMPLEX SAYS: We guess Beyoncé doesn’t like the splash.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

COMPLEX’S KID CUDI COVER STORY
COMPLEX’S BEHIND THE SCENES KID CUDI x AUGOR VIDEO
COMPLEX’S KID CUDI x AUGOR GALLERY
COMPLEX’S KID CUDI x AUGOR COVER (LARGE)

Thus inspired, we dug—and we mean dug—deep into the archives to unearth, document, and rate every dead rap magazine ever created. Yeah, we had to rate them, but in the end, everybody associated with these publications deserves an “A” for effort. Yep, even you, Benzino…

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT COMPLEX’S HISTORY OF DEAD RAP MAGAZINES!

Compared to basketball, football, and baseball (and golf…and soccer…and NASCAR), ice hockey doesn’t get that much love in rap lyrics—you know: it’s cold, there’s crazy white people with masks and sticks, etc. etc. (word to Nat X). That’s why it always catches our attention when an MC drops a hockey reference in a verse. Most recently, it was the homie Mibbs from Pac Div (on “Knuckleheadz” from the group’s new Complex-co-signed mixtape) who got icey with it: “It get colder than a polar, or Ovechkin with the puck.”

The Ovie reference got us thinking about our favorite hip-hop hockey moments of the past. (Ed. note: Sorry Kardi, Saukrates, Maestro Fresh Wes, et. al.—we excluded all Canadian rappers. Y’all supposed to be talking about hockey!) So then, get your puck on and enjoy rap’s greatest lyrical nods to hockey. Skate, skate, skate, skate!

“I skate on your crew, like Mario Lemieux”
Phife from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Keep It Rollin’”

COMPLEX SAYS: …and take out your knees, dun, like Ulf Samuelsson.
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“I think they mad we from the turf and we dangerous/And my whole team on ice, we play rough like the Rangers”
Jim Jones, “Bright Lights, Big City”

COMPLEX SAYS: Uh, that means you suck though.
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“I stand out like a nigga on a hockey team/I got goals and I can, like a pop machine”
– Common, “Watermelon”

COMPLEX SAYS: Punchline Com >>>> Acting Com.
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“I do it for the Capital, Wale Ovechkin…More or less Lindros/Flyer than the rest of them…sideways talk’ll make your neck like Zednick”
Wale, “Back in the Go-Go”

COMPLEX SAYS: Somebody’s been playing a little too much NHL on the Xbox.
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“Ayo, crash through, break the glass, Tony with the goalie mask”
Ghostface, “One”

COMPLEX SAYS: Not really a great hockey quote, but Ghost in a goalie mask? We couldn’t resist.
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“My style starts more fights than hockey/I Wayne Gretzky, on any MC”
Erick Sermon, “Freestyle” from Funkmaster Flex The Mixtape Volume 1

COMPLEX SAYS: Just avoid him in the locker room, yeah?
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“Put a motherfucker on ice like the Maple Leafs/That’s a hockey team but I ain’t on no hockey team/But I’m a champion, where’s the fucking Rocky theme?”
Lil Wayne, “Upgrade” freestyle

COMPLEX SAYS: Word to Romany Malco.
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“I’m skating on blades like Sidney Crosby (that’s hot)”
Lil Wayne, from Busta Rhymes’ “Throw It Up”

COMPLEX SAYS: And they both grow facial hair that looks like prepubescent pubes!
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“Rap’s Wayne Gretzky, yes I’m the best and/Only 22, more like Alex Ovechkin”
Asher Roth, “A Milli” freestyle

COMPLEX SAYS: But Ovie’s got MVP trophies, son! What you got???
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“They tried to put two 9’s on me, just like Gretzky”
Fabolous, “Ghetto”

COMPLEX SAYS: Pause?
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“And I done slipped more shots in then Gretzky’s stick”
Fabolous, “Sickalicious”

COMPLEX SAYS: Pause?
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“I’ll get you that shit that Gretzky skate on”
Cam’ron, “Horse & Carriage”

COMPLEX SAYS: “What you mean ‘Gretzky’ be on?” “Ice. Hockey.” “Oh you gonna buy me diamonds?” “Bitch, shut the fuck up!”
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“And if rap was hockey, I be Gretzky, puffing nestle”
Styles from DMX’s “Niggaz Done Started Somethin’”

COMPLEX SAYS: The mental image of The Great One toasting an L = priceless.
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“I bring flows more rare than black hockey cats/I never got checked due to lack of respect”
Evidence from from Dilated Peoples’ “The Platform” (remix)

COMPLEX SAYS: There are more “black hockey cats” than “dope white rappers” homie.
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BONUS HOCKEY VIDEO! “React,” Onyx feat. 50 Cent

ALBUM: Church League Champions

FUN FACT: For their official upcoming debut album, Grown Kids Syndrome, Pac Div is going to be working with a couple heavy hitters including the Neptunes who they will be recording with in Miami.

WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: Two reasons, really. First off, even with their freshly inked deal with Universal Motown and forthcoming production from some of the biggest producers in the industry, this LA based trio considers themselves to be underdogs in the rap game. And they’re right. At a time when most of raps fresh faces are endorsed by the industry’s major players (Jay, Kanye, Weezy), it’s hard to see how an artist—a rap group, no less!—who’s truly standing on their own two (or six), can break into the spotlight. That’s where the second reason comes into play: these dudes make really dope music…

Made up of brothers Like and Mibbs along with schoolyard friend BeYoung, Pac Div’s second mixtape continues on with songs detailing their pre-rap life of menial day jobs, getting played by girls and the grueling upkeep that comes along with being fly and broke. If you’ve heard “Mayor,” the first release off Church, you already have an idea of the tape’s aesthetic. Although only in their mid-20s, Pac Div, along with in house producer Swiff D, root their sound in early ’90s LA rap. When breezing through the track list and stopping at songs like “Pac Div,” with its tightly looped, pulsating sax and drums that beat you back to a time before auto-tune, or the misty “Whiplash,” you’ll immediately get a Souls of Mischief vibe.

However, while there’s a clear love of the old, Pac Div, like a 1968 Camaro with a brand new LS3 engine under the hood, refits the music for 2009. The drums are crisper, the sounds found swirling through some of the beats are newer and the raps are, well, let’s just say these dudes can rap their ass off. All three of them. There’ll be no need to fast forward through any of the members verses. It also helps that the subject matter extends beyond aspirations of flyness and girls. The obviously BlackStar influenced, blatantly titled “Young Black Male” has them speaking on the day-to-day bullshit that comes with being young and black in America—a tired subject, yeah, but a fresh take nonetheless thanks to some subtle humor (“I ain’t tryna get murdered, I ain’t tryna stack birds, I ain’t tryna grab your ass, girl, I’m tryna grab hers—oops”). We know they’re now signed to a major and all that, but let’s just hope that as Pac Div leave their underdog status behind, they keep hunger that helped produce work like this.

KEY TRACKS (LISTEN):
“SHUT UP”

“WHIPLASH”

“BACK”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CHURCH LEAGUE CHAMPIONS FOR FREE!

RELATED: Pac Div Talks New Mixtape, Jordan History & Bad Day Jobs (INTERVIEW from 7/20/09)

It wasn’t a TKO in any sense, but don’t think Jayceon’s going to throw in the towel anytime soon. Dude has racked up more beef in the five years he’s been in the hip-hop game than, well, probably anyone. Don’t believe us? We’ve compiled all 25 of Game’s disputes into one comprehensive blog post, staggering evidence that the dude doesn’t play nice with others. Take a look back below…

THE GAME VS JAY-Z (2005 – Present)
• Cause: Who really knows? The Game has been dissing and praising Jay-Z since his first album. “Dear Summer”, particularly the DJ Clue version, was once viewed as Hov’s most open diss towards Game. They also traded subliminal lines on Game’s “It’s Okay (One Blood)” and Jay’s “The Prelude.”

The Game “I’m So Wavy”

Jay-Z “Blueprint 3 Intro (Live)”

• Effect: Game’s dream came true when Jay finally mentioned him by name during a live performance of Blueprint 3’s intro, prompting the “I’m So Wavy” diss.
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THE GAME VS VIDEO VIXENS (2006)
• Cause: On his Kanye West assisted single, “Wouldn’t Get Far”, the rapper called out Vida Guerra, Melyssa Ford, and Gloria Velez, insinuating that they only got famous by providing sexual favors. Game also claimed to have finger-banged Vida during a NYC radio interview.

The Game feat. Kanye West “Wouldn’t Get Far”

Vida Guerra responds. [WATCH IT]

• Effect: Vida responded in a radio interview and disputed any sexual contact with The Game.
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THE GAME VS 50 CENT (2005 – 2009)
• Cause: Shortly after the release of The Documentary, 50 took a strong disliking to Game’s desire to work with some of G-Unit’s enemies. “300 Bars” was amongst Game’s first disses (of many) towards the Unit.

The Game “300 Bars And Runnin’” [LINK]

50 Cent “Not Rich, Still Lyin’”

• Effect: Dozens of diss songs, two failed peace treaties, several online videos, and one wounded entourage member later, The Game apologized to 50 Cent “as a man,” acknowledging that he “did a lot of dumb things.”
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THE GAME VS RAS KASS (2006)
• Cause: Ras Kass confronted The Game in an L.A. nightclub about lyrics he felt were directed towards his son. The situation got heated and led to Game supposedly hitting Ras over the head with a bottle, although that has been disputed.

Ras Kass calls out The Game. [WATCH IT]

The Game responds. [WATCH IT]

• Effect: Of course, that incident led to a diss from Ras Kass, but Game never responded, claiming that it would be a waste of time because his opponent’s career was already over. The beef was never formally squashed despite Snoop Dogg’s repeated attempts to mediate the feud.
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THE GAME VS BOW WOW (2008)
• Cause: Bow Wow proceeded to challenge his friend and known gamer, The Game. Okay, this is more of a digital beef than a real beef, but what’s the difference these days anyway?

Bow Wow challenges The Game. [WATCH IT]

The Game accepts the challenge. [WATCH IT]

• Effect: The Game beat Bow Wow in the Madden Showdown. Badly.

CLICK NEXT TO SEE MORE OF GAME’S DISPUTES!

In classic Hov fashion, the clip features some heavy cameos, most notably celebrated actor Harvey Keitel, who joins the rapper for a mafia-style game of cards. But this is nothing new—Jay has a history of scoring actors to appear in his videos. Take a look back at 10 of Hov’s Best Hollywood Cameos…

ACTRESS: Carmen Electra
VIDEO: “Girls, Girls, Girls” [Watch It]
ROLE: Channeling Bo Derek as a “French chick that loves to French kiss.” Taraji P. Henson and Tamala Jones also show up.

ACTOR: Chris Penn
VIDEO: “Can I Get A…” [Watch It]
ROLE: The now deceased Reservoir Dogs actor (and brother of Sean Penn) keeps the drinks flowing as a dancing bartender in this clip.

ACTOR: John Witherspoon
VIDEO: “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” [Watch It]
ROLE: Doesn’t it seem like he’s been in a million rap videos? This time he’s the nosy neighbor who can’t stand the constant partying. Bang bang bang bang!

ACTRESS: Kelly Ripa
VIDEO: “Change Clothes” [Watch It]
ROLE: Mostly known as a TV personality these days, Ripa got her start in soap operas and sitcoms. In this video, she sits by the runway at a fashion show with her husband (who probably came to keep Peedi Crakk away from his wife).

ACTOR: Lance Reddick
VIDEO: “‘03 Bonnie & Clyde” [Watch It]
ROLE: Similar to his role in The Wire, Reddick plays a cop.

ACTRESS: Pamela Anderson
VIDEO: “Hey Papi” [Watch It]
ROLE: Before ‘Ye snagged her for the “Touch The Sky” video, big brother Hov used the ultimate blond bombshell as eye candy in this soundtrack jam.

ACTOR: Michael Rapaport
VIDEO: “City Is Mine” [Watch It]
ROLE: Another actor in a Jay-Z video, another cop role. This just in: Michael Rapaport loves hip-hop.

ACTOR: Joe Torry
VIDEO: “Who You Wit” [Watch It]
ROLE: This record was on the Sprung soundtrack, so it’s only right that it featured Torry (who starred in the film) as the announcer at Hov’s Player’s Ball.

ACTOR: Hassan Johnson
VIDEO: “Anything” [Watch It]
ROLE: Another guy from The Wire, but this time he’s playing a guy who prospers from the projects to spoil his mom, not a pig.

ACTOR: Zoe Kravitz
VIDEO: “I Know” [Watch It]
ROLE: Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet’s smoking hot daughter does what she does best in this video: Walking around while looking hot.

ALBUM: BlaQKout

SOUNDS LIKE: Wife-beaters, BBQs, bad traffic, and mean-mugging. And purple weed.

FUN FACT: Quik’s only platinum album was his debut, Quik is the Name.

WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: Everybody’s been marveling this week about “D.O.A.” and how Jay-Z still got it, but people should be paying closer attention to two L.A. veterans who’ve quietly created an incredible collabo project. Instead of losing a step in old(er) age, Quik and Kurupt sound invigorated throughout the album, which represents everything we love about West Coast rap. Kurupt, who’s always been underappreciated as a lyricist, has free rein on BlaQKout to, uh, blackout on classically fonky Quik production. It feels like a stripped-down, old-school rap project—the work of two dudes who don’t give a fuck about anything but producing ill beats and rhymes. The single “9X Outta 10″ and “Do You Know” are standouts, but pretty much every track on here bangs like Kapri Styles. You already know.

Check out the the “9X Outta 10″ video below…

Fabolous ain’t exactly old-school, but after 10 years in the game, he’s definitely grown past new-jack status. But as consistent as he’s been, Fab has yet to hit us with a classic end-to-end album. But with his fifth LP Loso’s Way dropping in July, and the single “Throw It In The Bag” taking over airwaves, Fab seems more focused than ever. While doing a photo shoot for an upcoming issue of Complex, Loso took a few minutes out to talk about spoofing Dame Dash, what happened to his throwbacks, and what the real deal is between him and Tahiry…

Interview by Soo-Young Kim

Complex: You’re known as a pretty laid-back guy. Whose idea was it to make that Dame Dash parody video?

Fabolous: [Laughs.] Yeah, it’s funny cause I’m really laid-back, but I do have like a silly side sometimes, or a funny side or an angry side just like everybody else. So, I went into a meeting at Def Jam and it happened to be in the same room that Dame did that. I always found that Dame Dash video kinda interesting, so when we got in there, I was like, “Oh, this is the room that the meeting that Dame Dash did his little spaz-out moment!” And I started doing it and they were like, “Yo! We need to tape that.” So for a little comedic edge, we put the pizza thing to it cause we happened to be eating pizza. I mean, the people who know me—like know me very well—they [understood] that but everybody who’s seen it other than that, like yourself, it was like, “Yo, I woulda never expected Fab to do something like that.”

Complex: Have you ever personally witnessed Dame wilding out?

Fabolous: I have…but the funny thing about Dame wilding out, I think he was more, like, wilding out for his team, you know what I’m saying? He always was a guy that would take no shit for anybody who was trying to bullshit his team and that’s kinda what he was doing in that video as well. He felt like he was holding down Jay at that point so, I mean, he had got the tag of being a so-called “asshole” cause he was usually always being an asshole for all the things he believed in, so I don’t know if that’s wrong. [Laughs.]

Complex: In rap, there’s the older generation like Jay and Nas, then there’s the whole new class of younger rappers. At this point in your career, where do you put yourself?

Fabolous: I’m kind of like right in the middle of that because I’m from that Jay and Nas era. Maybe not just coming out at the same time as them, but I grew up on hip-hop from the early ’90s and late ’80s, so I know the same music from the era that Jay-Z and Nas come from, and that’s why I respect their music so much. I am in the game now so I see what’s relevant around me, the young guys, like you’re saying, but the game has changed a little bit so I don’t think the same kinda effort and legwork is put into the artists that they have now as were yesterday, so I’m somewhere in the middle of that. I think maybe later on when those other older guys are a little further away out, then maybe I will be on the same plateau, but it’s funny because I’ve been around for almost 10 years in the game but somehow I still look like I’m like on my second or third album or something. So it’s good cause it doesn’t blow up my age, you know what I mean? [Laughs.]

Complex: Speaking of the new album, you also had a mixtape called Loso’s Way. Do you think people will get it confused with the new album?

Fabolous: Not really, because sometimes people in the mixtape world, they’re like underground fans and I think they’re smart enough to distinguish between the album and the mixtape. I think the people who’re gonna hear both, they know the difference, so I don’t think it should confuse anybody. The title of the movie I shot—I shot a movie for the album as well—that’s called Loso’s Way too, so the good thing is you may Google that name and all of those things will come up and you can take your choice.

Complex: And is the album going to be similar to the mixtape?

Fabolous: It’s more on a different vibe because I themed the album kinda after the movie Carlito’s Way. I watched Carlito’s Way one day and I saw that his trials and tribulations and all the stuff he was going through was parallel to my story. I wanted to take my album back to a theme because if you think of some of the great albums, they had a theme and it brought you into the world of the album. You know, the Biggie, the Eminem, a bunch of guys had a theme and once you listen to their music, you got into the theme, even if you walked away from that or you didn’t live that, you were in their world, so that’s what I wanted to do by theme-ing my album. That’s why it’s a little different than the mixtape, because it’s actually themed and I touch on certain areas of my personal life. This album was way more personal than any album I’ve done before. Before I used to just make records, take the hottest 16 records that I thought I had, slap them together and put ‘em out, but this one is actually themed so it rides way better. You get a good feeling, but still good music at the same time.

Complex: Which of the new crop of young New York rappers do you feel like you’re competing with?

Fabolous: None. I’m not…there’s no New York rapper who’s out that is competing with me because first of all, I’m the best and—

Complex: [Laughs.]

Fabolous: [Laughs.]—second of all, I’m not like a new jack, I’m not just coming out, this is not my first album. I’ve been out for years and I’ve had numerous hits, I’ve had numerous endorsements. It’s my fifth album, like, this is not new. I’m not just rapping because I like it anymore—this is like almost my career now, you know? Not almost, it is! This is what I feed myself and my family with, so I attack it that way. You know, certain people, they do what they do, and I’m sure they’re good at what they do but I just don’t put anybody—especially in New York—in my category because they haven’t been through all the things I’ve been through, throughout my career. And I’m still going, I believe. I still haven’t peaked, there’s a lot of guys who’ve came, peaked, and I think now people look at them and are like, “OK,” but I think people still want more of me because they feel like I haven’t peaked. Sometimes I even hear people say, “I don’t think Fab has lived up to his full potential yet,” you know what I’m saying? I believe this album right here is a classic album and I listen to it as a fan; I just rode in my car listening to it and I was very pleased. I hope everyone else feels the same way when they hear it. I felt like I grew from last album to this album and I evolved all the way around…all the way down to doing stuff at Complex, because Complex is a more mature magazine as well and it’s diverse, so it touches many different people and before or maybe earlier in my career, I wasn’t in that lane. I’ve had my first child since my last album, so this project has become like an opening as well. So now you’re gonna see stuff like the Dame Dash spoof, you know what I mean? You’re not gonna know where that came from but it was always there—but I’m kind of releasing it a little bit more.

Complex: What’s your take on the recent Joe Budden vs. Method Man controversy?

Fabolous: This was a funny thing because I was biased. I was explaining this to somebody else, because of course I know Joe Budden. But I feel Joe Budden, at this present time at [looks at phone] 2:40, June 5th, I believe that Joe Budden at this point is a more lyrical rapper than Method Man. Now, if you go back in time, like Joe Budden may be at one of his best forms now. Now the question is, if you can see Method Man at his best form to Joe Budden’s best form: Method Man at his best form was a humongous hip-hop identity, you know what I’m saying? He brought an element to the game that wasn’t even there when he came. It’s just this whole grungy, gritty style and I remember at one point he was a sex symbol—like girls thought he was sexy and everything. Meth has had a classic album. I think his first album was classic, he’s had classic verses that I can recite word for word, and I don’t know if I could say the same for Joe, but I do believe Joe at this point, at [looks at phone again] 2:41, June 5th, I believe Joe is a better rapper. But Meth is not at his highest form right now either.

Complex: So then, speaking of Joe Budden…

Fabolous: That’s just my opinion, I hope I don’t get in diss videos or YouTube videos against them. I’m entitled to my opinion.

Complex: [Laughs.] If you were still with Budden’s girl Tahiry, do you think she would’ve blown up in the same way that she is now?

Fabolous: If I was? Umm…I don’t know, we were never, we were just friends. I don’t know if I can say I was with her, I don’t want this to go further and be like, “OK, Fab said he…” So it’s like, I don’t know! I really have no idea what she would’ve done. More power to her and congrats on everything she’s doing now, I’m happy for her, she’s a friend of mine so only thing I can do is wish her the best.

Complex: You’ve collaborated with Ryan Leslie, The-Dream, and Ne-Yo. Who did you like working with the most?

Fabolous: I like really working with all three of those guys. On the R&B tip, those three guys have become my favorite three guys to work with. Ryan because he’s so creative. You know how you give some suggestions to certain people and they’re like, stuck in their way? Ryan is completely opposite—he wants your suggestions, he wants your feedback, he wants you to mix and mingle with what his ideas are and make dope joints. Ne-Yo is just like a writing genius. He just writes these songs and they’re like, you can’t believe he just wrote that and that’s why I think we mix well. He’s told me the same thing like, “Yo, you write some stuff and other than a few other guys I can’t believe you just said that and made it rap and rhyme and metaphorically flip something,” and I feel the same way as him, I feel like he’s a writing genius and I think when we mix our creativity together, we make dope joints, you know what I mean? We’re even talking about doing a sorta like a Jay-Z/R. Kelly Best of Both Worlds kinda album later this year. And Dream, we just have this amazing chemistry when we on the same joints and it just sounds good. I don’t know how to define it, it’s just like one of the things—we put peanut butter and jelly together and it just tastes good. All three of them make R&B in a different lane and it’s funny how I mix well with all three of them, but it’s hard for me to say any which one just because all three are different directions.

Complex: In The-Dream’s “Rockin’ That Thang (Remix)” video, there is a magazine-cover theme and you’re seen in front of one that’s similar to Complex.

Fabolous: Oh yeah? I like Complex, I love Complex. I like to look through it. I like the way you guys do special shots too and I like the texture of the pictures. It’s a little different than the average magazine, so you can see it’s tastefully done. I just like the photography the most, I’m a reader of course too, but I like to see pictures taken well and Complex makes sure they have that. And they try different things, like with this shoot for me today, we were just talking how most of the shots I’m wearing, kind of the stuff that’s put together to look well together, but not really like a perfect match and it was different for me because I’m really matchy. Like if I have a shirt on, I’m usually gonna have the hat to match the shirt, or the shoes to match the shirt or the hat, you know what I mean? I’m really matchy. But I appreciate all aspects of fashion and I know certain parts of it is unmatchy, and you have to wear it well…I think that’s why they picked me because I think they know I could. They figured I could wear it well and I think Complex takes people from just their regular element which would be matchy-matchy for me, and say, “We’re gonna take Fab out of his matchy-matchy ass and fucking put him in some unmatchy stuff,” and Complex does that well.

Complex: You used to be the king of throwbacks.

Fabolous: Ahh [sighs]…throwbacks!

Complex: Where are all those throwbacks now?

Fabolous: The throwbacks now are in the basement of my house in a big box…they’re waiting for throwbacks to come back maybe. [Laughs.] And I’ll have the jump ahead on everybody, but I doubt it so they’re just down there now. What I’m thinking about doing is getting a couple signed by some of the actual athletes and framing them and make it like memorabilia or something like that. But I think the throwback era…you know hip-hop has trends and they come and they go…that was one that went. [Laughs.]

Complex: Nah Right recently said you should step your Twitter game up. What do you have to say about that?

Fabolous: Yeah? I don’t know! My Twitter is good! I have a lot of followers, maybe 80,000 followers. In what way did they mean step it up? Did they mean, like, step up my…

Complex: Maybe interact with the followers more? Tweet more?

Fabolous: ‘Cause when you have 80,000 followers, it’s hard to reply to everybody cause you get a lot of replies off it. Everything I send gets hundreds and hundreds of replies. So, I skim through sometimes and I’ma say this, when I actually check the replies back, it’s usually on…

Complex: Your BlackBerry?

Fabolous: No, the computer. Sometimes it freezes my BlackBerry up, like the Twitter cause I get so many, so it freezes it up, so I try to do less through here unless I really wanna see what somebody answers back to me, but…I’ll definitely try to step up my reply game, but I’m so busy and I get so many replies that it’s just hard for me. But Nah Right, since you blew me up for not replying, I’m gonna start replying a little bit more.

Complex: You’ve had respectable album sales and critical success. Are you trying to accomplish anything else now?

Fabolous: I definitely would like to embark on acting, give it a shot, you know maybe that’s my calling, maybe it’s not. Maybe I suck and I’ll leave it alone and just keep rapping. I just want to try it out, like different endeavors now are starting to come with being a hip-hop artist or star, many things are thrown at you. I have a clothing line that we’ve been launching like the last year or two and just branching it out and still doing the groundwork of getting it to be at the big lines. It’s called Rich Yung and it has a following between like younger kids and the demo who looks at me as a tastemaker. I once said I wanted to open a chain of some kind of stores and stuff…I just know it takes time and I’m so devoted to my music at this point and becoming the best artist I can be. I don’t want to devote too much time to anything else before I say I’ve conquered that. I just wanna become bigger and I’m never satisfied with just what I am today, I just always want to be bigger. If I was Bill Gates, I would double Bill Gates, you know what I mean? That’s the mindstate you should keep in any profession, just keep striking iron and trying to get bigger and better.

Complex: Last question. In your opinion, can you name your albums from best to worst?

Fabolous: Best to worst, OK. I definitely believe that Loso’s Way is the best album I’ve put together, period, so I would have to say Loso’s Way, number one. This might be an argument to some of the fans but I wanna say Ghetto Fabolous, number two. Then I would say, From Nothin’ to Somethin’, number three. Then I would say…this is a toss-up between Real Talk and Street Dreams…I would say Real Talk, I’m gonna go with that one. And not to say that Street Dreams is my worst ’cause I had two big hits on that one, but all the way around I wasn’t satisfied with the album. There’s a lot of things going on in a situation but I think it still has some good records on it and I’ll say Street Dreams was the last.

The DC native is in NYC for his show tomorrow night at M2, so he stopped by Complex to talk about Charles Hamilton, celebrities, and his attitude toward interviews. Oh, and if you thought he forgot about the slight jokey-jab we threw at him in our controversial rap-retail post a few months back…well, he didn’t…

Interview by Ernest Baker

Complex: You really came out of left field with the Lady Gaga feature on the first single. Is there anything else particularly unusual about the album that will immediately surprise people the way “Chillin” did?

Wale: Nah, that’s as left as it goes, but that’s the beauty of it. That’s as left as I can take it. So we bring everybody back in now. That’s just to get the net as wide as possible to bring everybody into my world. She’s pretty much the key. My music is the lock. She opens it so everybody can come, all of her fans can come see what has been going on in the underground scene for so long and what people have respected me for. And I think the underground fans understand what I’m doing.

Complex: You don’t think you’ll lose underground fans or confuse the mainstream by trying to reach both markets without compromise?

Wale: That’s what the underground circuit is for. That’s what Back To The Feature is for. That’s what my next single is for. That’s what the album is for. The underground fans that say they might be gone, they’re gonna be inclined to listen to the album and go, “Okay, I get it now.” It’s the Attention Deficit. Wake up. Let me do something crazy to make everybody be like, “What are you doing?” I could have easily got T-Pain or anybody like that, but let me just get somebody very left. That’ll wake them up. Gaga. She’s never done a rap record before. Pay attention. It’s a method to my madness.

Complex: Well, people are paying attention. GQ just called you the “greatest rapper since Jay-Z.” Of course that’s going to spark debate, but personally, do you feel like you’re the best rapper since Jay-Z?

Wale: Everybody should feel like that. I’m sure Complex might not. I mean, I’ve heard things about myself. Complex stating that I was, what’d they call me? Burlington Coat Factory or something like that. They compared me to Burlington Coat Factory. So it’s just a matter of extremes. I think that was a bit extreme. So I guess GQ just went in the other direction. I guess it’s what publications do. Write things that are just kind of outlandish. I don’t compare myself to Jay or anybody like that. I just try to make the best music I can possibly make. But GQ is one of the only publications that’s heard a lot of the records on the album, so that might be telling about what the album is gonna present, in a sense.

Complex: Speaking of comparisons, who from the freshman class of rap, besides yourself, do you think will achieve the most success?

Wale: I mean, everybody. I’m just so happy and proud of everybody and what everybody’s doing. From Curren$y doing decent numbers with the independent, digital release; from Asher selling 1.1 million-plus on iTunes with the single and almost at 200,000 [albums sold] now; Cudi got almost 4,000 BDS’s a week; Mickey Factz doing the Rock The Bells tour; Blu signed a deal shortly after; Ace Hood had two very successful singles, another album getting ready to drop. Everybody’s doing their thing, man. It wouldn’t be fair for me to take one out the batch. I think everybody’s been doing a very good job and I think XXL did a good job of picking people out.

Complex: You left out one guy in particular.

Wale: Who is that?

Complex: Charles Hamilton. I don’t know if the beef is real or fake, but can you clear the record and let us know what your situation with Charles Hamilton really is?

Wale: Charles is on the label. He’s an Interscope artist and he’s doing his thing. I don’t really speak to him. So I can’t really tell you. The “Brooklyn Girls” record did pretty good and The Pink Lavalamp mixtape got some good reviews. So he’s doing his thing and I’m sure that he’s gonna have a good year as well. I just wasn’t following his moves that much.

Complex: What got you to the point of calling him out at shows? It seems like something specific must have triggered that.

Wale: One thing about me, I understand that in the industry, a lot of it isn’t real. Which is a difficult thing. Where I come from a lot of people are straightforward and I’ve had to learn how to not say exactly what I feel. Sometimes it gets frustrating being a person who says what he feels and what his heart is telling him. Every once in a while I fall into letting the industry get the best of me and not just saying exactly what I feel. Sometimes I’m just a little bit too honest. There was some things that were going on behind the scenes that I didn’t like because it’s not what hip-hop is about. Hip-hop is about honesty and it’s about being real to the people, and I kinda felt like there’s some instances where some artists aren’t 100% honest with the people. Their integrity is lacking sometimes. And sometimes it comes out. Initially, I felt like my duty was to just keep it positive and be positive and sometimes I crack in that. We’re human. I’m imperfect at times and that was just me being imperfect at that one point. Charles is Charles. Wale is Wale. It’s two separate entities that have nothing to do with each other and probably will never have anything to do with each other and I wish him the best.

Complex: Drake has Wayne. Cudi has Kanye. You come out of nowhere backed by Mark Ronson, who’s been unsuccessful with rap artists in the past. Is there any worry there?

Wale: That’s like saying Drake is worried over some people on Young Money. Wayne’s had artists for years that haven’t had the opportunity to showcase their talent yet. As well as Kanye. It’s guys that’s been there since “Jesus Walks” that haven’t the opportunity to showcase their abilities yet. Mark is not necessarily a prominent figure in the States and I don’t work as closely with Mark as those other two dudes do. I’m fighting alone. My team is Rich Kleinman and guys that help me with my business. I don’t have that Kanye or Wayne factor. It’s just Wale fighting on his own. He got his business people with him and he’s standing in the gauntlet by himself. That’s how I look at it. Mark is Mark Ronson. Mark is in Russia now or whatever. I haven’t seen Mark in a minute. We did our two songs for the album and that was it. It’s different.

Complex: Well, I’ve heard you say that you like being the underdog, so even when people have reasons to doubt you, does being confident in your music make you feel better about how everything is going to work out?

Wale: Maybe they just like me because they like me, and they don’t like me because they feel like they have to like me because they like this person or that person. I’m just trying to make the best music I can possibly make and represent the new class or whatever. Myself and Cudi and Asher and B.o.B. That’s all I can do at this point.

Complex: Being so focused on making the best music possible, how does it feel when a publication like XXL tells you to Step Your Rap Game Up?

Wale: What line was that again? A lot?

Complex: Yeah: “You say you got a lot of whips/Well I got a lot” from “Chillin.”

Wale: It was a double entendre. I’m sure everybody can think of 30 lines that was not, you know what I’m saying? It was a double entendre. Whatever. The same sword they knight you with they can goodnight you with.

Complex: How heavy does them calling you out weigh on you?

Wale: You never wanna see yourself there. Like, ever. I’d rather go to jail than see myself on Step Your Rap Game up because I take a lot of time with my stuff. The funny thing is, a lot of people have told me, “Yo, since when is a double entendre, like…come on, that was reaching.” But like I said, you gotta understand that the same sword they knight you with they can goodnight you with. That’s what it is, but I don’t ever wanna see myself there again.

Complex: Have you become more immune to criticism?

Wale: I’ve read three or four things about myself in Complex that was like, I just left the photo shoot with y’all and I didn’t even wanna wear what y’all made me wear but I did it because I mess with y’all, I like Complex, and I appreciate y’all taste. Then to read something like, Wale’s played out and hipster this, it confuses me because I come from a world where if somebody has a problem with you they’ll tell you. They won’t put you in a photo shoot and have you do this, that, and the third and then two months later say that you’re played out. Like, you just anointed me something, at least let my album come out. I’m learning as I go. It messes with my head a little. I get confused but I can’t sit around and be mad at the whole Complex magazine or whatever. It’s a publication. They’re just doing their job.

Complex: You like sports too. You actually have a bet with Jim Jones and he picked the Lakers to win it all. Will you clean out his studio if Kobe gets another ring?

Wale: We have to figure that out. We’re gonna see what happens, man. Orlando and L.A. I mean, it looks like an easy little sweep for L.A., but you never know. They almost lost to the Houston Rockets, so we’ll see what happens. A bet is a bet, man. If Jim wins the bet then Jim wins the bet. I’m a man of my word.

Complex: You know, we were talking about Charles Hamilton earlier. He has his Rihanna thing. Do you have that type of obsession with any female celebrities?

Wale: I don’t obsess over no woman. They come and go. I think to obsess over a woman is to be weak. Weaker. You gotta be headstrong. To obsess over a woman, it’s like you can never give your all. What if you don’t get the woman that you obsess over? That means you’re settling. You can’t obsess over no mortal.

Complex: If you’re not obsessed with anyone, is there a celebrity who you’re at least feeling?

Wale: They’re cool, but I’m not really caught up with celebrity women. I’ve played the background for three years now. I’ve been out with Lindsay. I’ve been out with Jay-Z. I’ve been places with Rihanna and Kanye. I see what goes around. It’s just a different world. And I think being from DC, where we don’t really even believe in celebrities like that, it sets you up for that. It doesn’t phase me. I think a regular girl that goes to school or works at a Complex or Spin or Blender or whatever, one of those magazines. She’d probably be flyer to me than the person she’s writing about.

Complex: You once said on Twitter that you find New York boring. Months later, more is happening with your career and you have more reasons to be here. Do you still feel that way?

Wale: See, I moved back to DC. I just think New York is not the place for me. It’s a dope place to visit, but to live here, you know? And at that point I lived on the 6th floor in a walk-up, so if I wanted to go out I had to go all the way downstairs, party, get tired, and walk all the way back up. So you’d have to consider that every night, like, “Do I really wanna?” But the nightlife scene is cool. Obviously the shopping is great and the food is pretty good. And the people, they’re fast. Everything works fast in New York City. I ain’t mad at it. I just couldn’t live here. It’s just too much going on.

Complex: Do you still hate doing interviews?

Wale: I never hated doing interviews. That was a little bit of back and forth between me and Semtex. This was actually a very good interview. The way you’ve interviewed is like, everything that’s been going on recently—from Jim Jones to XXL, all of these things. It’s like me doing an interview next month for Complex and them being like, “Tell me about signing with Interscope.” It’s like, huh? Didn’t y’all just? So y’all really gonna put that in? It’s like one of those things. Us as rappers get called out about stuff, even for using a double entendre. We get called out, but nobody calls out interviewers. Some interviewers aren’t even interested. They’re just doing it because they gotta do it. Life is nothing without passion. Whatever you’re doing, at least be passionate about it because I’m passionate about what I’m doing. I’m passionate about the words I’m saying right now. Just be passionate. When the interviews is passionate, it’s more conversational and we’re not covering the same ground. When you’re just reading a note card—not like you, this is recent stuff—but when you’re just reading a note card and it doesn’t even feel real, it’s difficult at times. But I have no problem doing interviews. This is actually my fifth one of the day. So I have absolutely no problem doing interviews.

Complex: Any other things you’d like to say before we end?

Wale: I wanna meet the person who wrote the Burlington Coat Factory thing, but that’s cool. I would love to understand it more, but everything is good. I’m about to go to the studio and make some more music today, so I’m happy and I appreciate Complex for giving me the time to do this interview.

ALBUM: Big L – 5/30 Tribute Mixed by DJ Soul

SOUNDS LIKE: A wealth of original material, including unreleased songs and freestyles from one of rap’s G.O.A.T. MCs

SAD FACT: Lamont Coleman would’ve turned 35 this past Saturday.

WHY COMPLEX IS CO-SIGNING IT: “Everywhere I go, brothers know my fuckin’ name…” From the moment we first heard Big L spit—on Lord Finesse’s “Yes You May (Remix)”—we could sense a legend being born. The unmistakable voice, the sharp cadence, the incredible punchlines—L had MC talent in spades, epitomizing “swagger” way before rap co-opted the term. Unlike fallen peers ‘Pac and Biggie, we only really know Big L’s life through his music. No tabloid fodder, no urban legends, and no loquacious ex-wifeys followed L’s murder in 1999. All we’re left with is the memory of a dude that was born to rap.

The homie DJ Soul is honoring that memory with a marvelous mixtape that commemorates L’s birthday (May 30). The mastermind behind the awesome Assorted Donuts Dilla tape has cooked up a project that will serve as both a nostalgic tribute for longtime L fans as well as a primer for those too young to have appreciated him in his prime. The seamless mix features the aforementioned Finesse track plus the best of L’s work with Children of the Corn, D.I.T.C., and as a solo artist. Don’t miss the unforgettable Stretch & Bob freestyle from ‘95 when a young Lamont Coleman outshined a young Sean Carter. Big L, rest in peace.

Read on for a full tracklist and a link to download Big L – 5/30 Tribute Mixed by DJ Soul…

TRACKLISTING:
1. Intro (Part 1) feat. Lord Finesse
2. Intro (Part 2) feat. Funkmaster Flex & Nas
3. Principle Of The New School (Freestyle)
4. Yes You May Remix feat. Lord Finesse
5. DJ Premier Interlude
6. MVP (Live From Amsterdam)
7. Ebonics
8. Internationally Known feat. OC
9. Hit It (unreleased)
10. I Shoulda Worn A Rubba aka The Clinic (unreleased)
11. American Dream feat. McGruff, Mase, Cam’ron & Bloodshed
12. Sandman 118th (Freestyle)
13. Games Females Play (unreleased)
14. School Dayz (unreleased)
15. The Devil’s Son (Live From Amsterdam)
16 .Times Is Hard On The Blvd (unreleased)
17. Day One feat. Diamond
18. Fat Joe Interlude
19. The Enemy feat. Fat Joe
20. Street Struck
21. Bobbito Interlude
22. 95 Freestyle feat. Jay-Z
23. Uptown Connection aka Danger Zone feat. Mase & McGruff
24. Lord Finesse Interlude
25. How Will I Make It (unreleased)

To download the tape, click here.

“THE REAL SLIM SHADY” PERFORMANCE AT THE MTV VMAs (2000)
• In 2000, after selling a record-breaking 1.76 million units of The Marshall Mathers LP in its first week and scoring a top 5 hit with “The Real Slim Shady” earlier that year, Eminem invaded Radio City Music Hall with an army of blonde white-T-wearing clones. The key moment is when Slim Shady gives Carson Daly a dap and leaves Fred Durst hanging as he recites lyrics about them sharing Christina Aguilera. “Thought-we-were-cool”? FAIL.

“STAN” PERFORMANCE WITH ELTON JOHN AT THE 43RD GRAMMY AWARDS (2001)
• Immediately after word spread that The Marshall Mathers LP was nominated for four Grammys, including Album of the Year, GLAAD activists predictably lashed out. Eminem faced protests for his homophobic lyrics, but in a brilliant counter, managed to secure a collaboration with Sir Elton John. The duo performed “Stan,” a song with somewhat anti-gay content of its own, and made Grammy history in the process.

EM FEUDS WITH TRIUMPH THE INSULT COMIC DOG AT THE MTV VMAs (2002)
• No stranger to celebrity feuds, Eminem took it to the next level when he began beefing with puppets at the 2002 VMAs. Conan O’Brien’s notorious jokester, Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, was already harassing Moby about his beef with Eminem when Triumph decided to approach Em himself. Slim Shady and his posse didn’t respond too well. At the same show Eminem took shots at Moby when he accepted the award for “Best Male Video” by announcing to the world that he would “hit a man with glasses.” Ouch.

INDUCTING RUN-DMC INTO THE ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME (2009)
• After several years out of the spotlight, Eminem publicly marked the end of his hiatus with this speech at the 2009 induction ceremony for the Rock & Roll HOF. Em nailed the speech, and it set the table for his comeback.

GETTING A FACE FULL OF SACHA BARON COHEN’S ASS AT THE MTV VMAs (2009)
• Well, if you haven’t seen it, here it is.

]]> http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/06/01/eminem%e2%80%99s-greatest-award-show-moments/feed/ 0 http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/05/21/5-ways-to-save-dipset/ http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/05/21/5-ways-to-save-dipset/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 19:59:40 +0000 donniek http://www.complex.com/blogs/?p=32762

The numbers are in: Even with the Complex cosign, it turns out that Cam’ron’s album sold only 100 more copies than Jim Jones‘—which would be acceptable had the Capo not totally bricked himself. Damn, homies. In high school, you was the mans, homies! What the fuck happened to you?

We all know record sales don’t mean much anymore, but it’s still pretty clear that the Diplomats‘ reign is over, and that’s bad for hip-hop. The Dips’ output at their peak—Diplomatic Immunity, Purple Haze, Juelz‘ and Jones’ debuts and countless piff-tastic mixtapes—puts the crew up there with one of the best rap collectives of all time. Yeah, we said it. So how can we get the gang back on top? The first step is obvious: Get Cam, Jimmy and Juelz to reunite as a team. But then what? We’ve come up with 5 ways to bring Dipset back to dominance…

1. RECRUIT NEW MEMBERS.

Would anybody really miss 40 Cal or J.R. Writer? These days, the kids love Kid Cudi (a.k.a. 40 Cudi) and Drake (a.k.a. Drake Da God), so bring them in the fold—Hell Rell will strong-arm ‘em if necessary. (Shit, Jones already jumped on “Day and Night.”) As in sports, new rookie blood can add much-needed energy to the vets. Cudi and Drake are gonna have to get used to rockin’ doo-rags, though.

2. BRING MAX B BACK.

To that end, it’s time that Capo let bygones be bygones with Biggaveli. Let’s face it, Jones made some of his best music with Max riding shotgun. Plus Wavy Crockett has mad traction on the Internet nowadays. Worldstarhiphop.com would eat it up. Everybody wins. *Insert Max B laugh*

3. EMBRACE THE HIPSTERS.

If the so-called “streets” are frontin’, then the Dips should run a Fader route and lock down the freelance-graphic-design crowd. That means collabos with groups like Mastodon, production from Diplo and more shows in the Willy B. Ironic love is love nonetheless. Plus we miss running into white hipster girls that like Dipset. Like, “running into.” Literally.

4. START A NEW BEEF.

At its peak, Dipset would start shit with anybody, just for the fuck of it. Jay-Z, Nas, 50—nobody was safe. We think the Dips need to reclaim the beef throne (no homo) with a full-out attack on…Slaughterhouse 5. It may be a can’t-win situation lyrically, but you can guarantee that the S5 dudes will release 2,431 counter-dis records and webcam attacks in response. That alone should keep Dipset relevant for a while.

5. MAKE MORE MOVIES.

So they can make a sequel to Night at the Museum, but we can’t get “Killa Season 2″???? We need more shit like this in our lives. Yo Cam: If it comes down to it, we got videographers on Complex staff. Holla at us!

]]> http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/05/21/5-ways-to-save-dipset/feed/ 28 http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/05/14/5-potential-new-careers-for-dmx/ http://www.complex.com/blogs/2009/05/14/5-potential-new-careers-for-dmx/#comments Thu, 14 May 2009 22:12:25 +0000 donniek http://www.complex.com/blogs/?p=31810
So it was reported that DMX got out of jail yesterday after serving over 90 days for drug, fraud and animal cruelty charges. While incarcerated, X mentioned plans to start a TV show called Pain and Perseverance, which will be about “how [DMX] can reach people that the average person can’t reach” through the words of Jesus Christ.

Despite his un-Christian-like behavior over the years, Dark Man X has always been rap’s most outspoken figure when it came to praising the Lord. But if his Bible-thumping TV series never gets off the ground, we have some better suggestions for DMX’s next job…

BECOME A DOG GROOMER
• Next to God and crime, DMX’s favorite topic of choice has always been his dogs (one love, Boomer!). Shit, he already partially speaks the language. All he would need to do is acquire a grooming license while he waits for Michael Vick to come out of the bing. Then both of them could invest in a grooming shop specializing in pit bulls that were abused in dog-fighting rings. Karma’s a bitch

BECOME A DRIVING INSTRUCTOR
• X’s penchant for reckless driving is legendary, so he’d be perfect as an instructor at the driving school run by Bob Bondurant, who wrote an entire book called Police and Pursuit Driving. Something tells us the Dark Man would fit right in.

BECOME AN AIRPORT CUSTOMS OFFICER
• Knowledge of drugs? Check. Good with dogs? Check. Handy with weapons? Check. Mean as fuck? Check.

BECOME A FULL-TIME PASTOR
• When celebrities pursue religion, they usually do it half-ass like one butt cheek. But if Mason Betha could become a pastor, X should have no problem joining the cloth. Matter of fact, Mase and DMX should open a joint ministry of barkers and shakers.

JOIN THE BORDER PATROL
• Although X refuses to ever return to Arizona, at one point he bought a house there because he believed it was “God’s land.” We’re not sure if the Grand Canyon state has much to offer besides deserts and Wal-Marts, but if X wants, he could always return to his old stomping grounds to protect our borders from illegal immigrants. We smell a Lou Dobbs cameo on Walk With Me Now and You’ll Fly With Me Later.

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